Here's a video of stats-based information about social media that will make you want to cry and hide under the bed (if you don't like or use social media).
Also, from the FITC, The Last Advertising Agency on Earth.
Are you afraid yet? ARE YOU? You should be. I would be, except the worst already happened to me in 2009.
Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Living Social
Here's an interesting little social media site I came across today. Here's how it works:
1. LivingSocial sends you a daily deal for Toronto, for a restaurant, a spa, or event or whatever.
2. If you're interested in the deal, you buy it, like say X% off XYZ Spa services
3. Recommend the deal to your friends and if 3 of them buy it using the personal link that livingsocial gives you then yours is free
This service will depend heavily on the quality of deals they offer. 5% off menu prices at a mediocre restaurant will not thrill me. I made that mistake when I got all enthused about Book Mooch and only found out later on that a) they never have the books I want and b) the price of mailing a book anywhere is more expensive than what I'd pay for it in the bookstore.
I just joined so we'll see how it goes. Apparently the will send me a deal a day.
1. LivingSocial sends you a daily deal for Toronto, for a restaurant, a spa, or event or whatever.
2. If you're interested in the deal, you buy it, like say X% off XYZ Spa services
3. Recommend the deal to your friends and if 3 of them buy it using the personal link that livingsocial gives you then yours is free
This service will depend heavily on the quality of deals they offer. 5% off menu prices at a mediocre restaurant will not thrill me. I made that mistake when I got all enthused about Book Mooch and only found out later on that a) they never have the books I want and b) the price of mailing a book anywhere is more expensive than what I'd pay for it in the bookstore.
I just joined so we'll see how it goes. Apparently the will send me a deal a day.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The stupidest person on earth
Who, you may ask is the stupidest person on earth? I mean, if there was some empirical way of calculating it, in this very instant, of all the dunces, dummies and doofuses out there, who reigns supreme over them all?
Ladies and gentlemen, I reveal to you the answer: it is I, yes I, Kerin Donahue! Project manager, blogger and New Media Wannabe Extraordinaire! Those of you who had me in the pool, collect your winnings. I am the Stupidest Person on Earth!
Well, no not really. But don’t it just feel that way sometimes?
As 2009 comes lumbering to its final resting place, I look back the road I’ve travelled. I started off all shiny and new, working for a direct response agency and really enjoying it. Then the dumb old economy went and wrecked that, leaving me (and many, many other people) scratching my head wondering where to go from there. The answer for those of us in marketing was pretty clear: if you’re not in the digital space today, you’re nowhere.
So I started a blog. I joined up, signed on and opted-in for everything under the sun. I took classes, I attended conferences, seminars and industry events. I volunteered, I networked and I participated. All in the hopes that someday I would catch the tiger’s tail and feel like I’d arrived.
But it’s never enough. The fact of the matter is, it will never be enough. The influx of new technology and new terminology will only increase. There will always be another new Big Thing I didn’t know about and there will always be people with way more insight than me creating a dizzying array of new Big Things for me to learn.
Normally I would view this as a good thing. But in the dying throes of the Aughts, I'm exhausted; I'm done in. My poor brain has been reduced to a dithering morass of WOOB-WOOB-WOOB, where all I’m able to do is lie twitching on the floor occasionally spitting out gibberish like “SEO! PPC, PHP!”
Every time I open my browser, the internet mocks me. It says, oh you think you’ve got a handle on social media, do you? What do you know about mobility marketing? Experiential marketing? EXPLAIN IT TO US IN GLORIOUS TECHNICAL DETAIL, New Media Wannabe Worm, or we will point and laugh at you! (Apparently the internet refers to itself in the third person). You know ABC? That’s all well and good, but did you know DEF, GHI, or at the very least XYZ? No? Ha! Have you been living under a rock? We laugh at your pitiful efforts to adjust to our cruel new expectations for new media mastery.
Okay, I may be hallucinating most of this. But I tell you, people: I’m in a funk. A great, big fin de decade funk.
I know that many of you reading this will be all, ‘Aw, cheer up, little buckaroo – it’s not as bad as all that.’ Well no, I suppose it isn’t. Some would also say, ‘Quit yer bitchin’, Complainy McWhinesalot’. These people are a) right, and b) kind of jerks. Right or wrong, however, I’m not sad to see this armpit of a year dwindle away to nothing. Let us never speak of it again and pray for an improved state of mind and a clean slate in 2010. I will be patient; I will be tenacious. Like the phoenix, I will rise anew and finally remember what the acronym“SEM” stands for on the first go.
Vayas con dios 2009! This dummy bids you Good Day. Don’t let the door hit your bum on the way out.
Ladies and gentlemen, I reveal to you the answer: it is I, yes I, Kerin Donahue! Project manager, blogger and New Media Wannabe Extraordinaire! Those of you who had me in the pool, collect your winnings. I am the Stupidest Person on Earth!
Well, no not really. But don’t it just feel that way sometimes?
As 2009 comes lumbering to its final resting place, I look back the road I’ve travelled. I started off all shiny and new, working for a direct response agency and really enjoying it. Then the dumb old economy went and wrecked that, leaving me (and many, many other people) scratching my head wondering where to go from there. The answer for those of us in marketing was pretty clear: if you’re not in the digital space today, you’re nowhere.
So I started a blog. I joined up, signed on and opted-in for everything under the sun. I took classes, I attended conferences, seminars and industry events. I volunteered, I networked and I participated. All in the hopes that someday I would catch the tiger’s tail and feel like I’d arrived.
But it’s never enough. The fact of the matter is, it will never be enough. The influx of new technology and new terminology will only increase. There will always be another new Big Thing I didn’t know about and there will always be people with way more insight than me creating a dizzying array of new Big Things for me to learn.
Normally I would view this as a good thing. But in the dying throes of the Aughts, I'm exhausted; I'm done in. My poor brain has been reduced to a dithering morass of WOOB-WOOB-WOOB, where all I’m able to do is lie twitching on the floor occasionally spitting out gibberish like “SEO! PPC, PHP!”
Every time I open my browser, the internet mocks me. It says, oh you think you’ve got a handle on social media, do you? What do you know about mobility marketing? Experiential marketing? EXPLAIN IT TO US IN GLORIOUS TECHNICAL DETAIL, New Media Wannabe Worm, or we will point and laugh at you! (Apparently the internet refers to itself in the third person). You know ABC? That’s all well and good, but did you know DEF, GHI, or at the very least XYZ? No? Ha! Have you been living under a rock? We laugh at your pitiful efforts to adjust to our cruel new expectations for new media mastery.
Okay, I may be hallucinating most of this. But I tell you, people: I’m in a funk. A great, big fin de decade funk.
I know that many of you reading this will be all, ‘Aw, cheer up, little buckaroo – it’s not as bad as all that.’ Well no, I suppose it isn’t. Some would also say, ‘Quit yer bitchin’, Complainy McWhinesalot’. These people are a) right, and b) kind of jerks. Right or wrong, however, I’m not sad to see this armpit of a year dwindle away to nothing. Let us never speak of it again and pray for an improved state of mind and a clean slate in 2010. I will be patient; I will be tenacious. Like the phoenix, I will rise anew and finally remember what the acronym“SEM” stands for on the first go.
Vayas con dios 2009! This dummy bids you Good Day. Don’t let the door hit your bum on the way out.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The futility of networking at a social media networking event
On Tuesday night I attended a lecture by Julien Smith on Social Capital, Trust Agents and the New Tribe, put on by Third Tuesday Toronto, a group for social media enthusiasts. It took place at the Berkeley Church Heritage Event Venue.
Julien’s talk was very entertaining. As for social media content it was nothing I hadn't heard before, be he was really energetic and pretty funny. I have put the book he co-authored with Chris Brogan, Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, on my Christmas list. My favourite moment of the evening was when he told us to “break our patterns”. He says that when you meet someone for the first time and then ask someone what they do for a living it shows that you really don’t care about them: you’re just making noises to fill the silence. Julien paused a moment after stating this and you could practically feel the crowd of 250 networkers freeze for a second in a collective “Oh, crap!” moment.
But the lecture is only half (at most) of such evenings! What about why we were all really there - The Schmoozing?
Hm. I must not be doing The Schmoozing correctly.
I arrived ten minutes early, checked my coat and looked around. It was like my high school auditorium: the popular kids clustered together, chatting easily and laughing heartily while the rest of us stood by and fiddled with whatever we had in our hands – drinks, laptops, cell phones... I checked my own phone for messages about ten times in twenty minutes. I had no messages. I bought a glass of wine to fiddle with (which I didn’t drink because I hate wine). The bartender of the venue must have been thinking, “YES, maladroit loners… more tips for me!”
I tried to catch someone’s eye to start a conversation, but it was like playing eyeball pinball! No one would give me a chance!
After the main event, I tried again, but I only managed to get two conversations (longer than three sentences) going. One was with a creative director who lost interest in me about thirty seconds in, but listened politely until she saw someone she knew and ditched me.
The other was with a fellow who had the misfortune to make eye contact with me and I had gone through my entire introductory spiel before I found out he was a dentist with no interest in social media (he was just attending with his wife, who was in the bathroom).
Awkward.
After that, my confidence was shot, so I got my coat and went home to sulk. But, lessons learned! Here’s a list of options I need to consider before I hit the next event:
1. Develop a better elevator pitch. Apparently mine sucks.
2. Become ten years younger, many shades blonder and 40 degrees hotter. The two women sitting in front of me were a huge success at being young, blond and attractive. If anyone can figure out how implement this strategy, please contact me and I will give you EVERYTHING I OWN.
3. Be Mysterious (ie, LIE). Tell people I’m a marketing project manager and consultant with “more work than I can handle at the moment, but I can’t tell you what projects – confidentiality, you know how it is.” Apparently this is a way cooler line than, “I’m a dedicated, enthusiastic team player who is actively seeking work”. The latter response = LOSER.
4. Invent an Interesting Persona (ie, LIE MASSIVELY). “I work for CSIS and I’m investigating the possibility that ‘social media’ is a hoax being perpetuated on the Canadian populace… can I have your business card?”
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Julien’s talk was very entertaining. As for social media content it was nothing I hadn't heard before, be he was really energetic and pretty funny. I have put the book he co-authored with Chris Brogan, Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, on my Christmas list. My favourite moment of the evening was when he told us to “break our patterns”. He says that when you meet someone for the first time and then ask someone what they do for a living it shows that you really don’t care about them: you’re just making noises to fill the silence. Julien paused a moment after stating this and you could practically feel the crowd of 250 networkers freeze for a second in a collective “Oh, crap!” moment.
But the lecture is only half (at most) of such evenings! What about why we were all really there - The Schmoozing?
Hm. I must not be doing The Schmoozing correctly.
I arrived ten minutes early, checked my coat and looked around. It was like my high school auditorium: the popular kids clustered together, chatting easily and laughing heartily while the rest of us stood by and fiddled with whatever we had in our hands – drinks, laptops, cell phones... I checked my own phone for messages about ten times in twenty minutes. I had no messages. I bought a glass of wine to fiddle with (which I didn’t drink because I hate wine). The bartender of the venue must have been thinking, “YES, maladroit loners… more tips for me!”
I tried to catch someone’s eye to start a conversation, but it was like playing eyeball pinball! No one would give me a chance!
After the main event, I tried again, but I only managed to get two conversations (longer than three sentences) going. One was with a creative director who lost interest in me about thirty seconds in, but listened politely until she saw someone she knew and ditched me.
The other was with a fellow who had the misfortune to make eye contact with me and I had gone through my entire introductory spiel before I found out he was a dentist with no interest in social media (he was just attending with his wife, who was in the bathroom).
Awkward.
After that, my confidence was shot, so I got my coat and went home to sulk. But, lessons learned! Here’s a list of options I need to consider before I hit the next event:
1. Develop a better elevator pitch. Apparently mine sucks.
2. Become ten years younger, many shades blonder and 40 degrees hotter. The two women sitting in front of me were a huge success at being young, blond and attractive. If anyone can figure out how implement this strategy, please contact me and I will give you EVERYTHING I OWN.
3. Be Mysterious (ie, LIE). Tell people I’m a marketing project manager and consultant with “more work than I can handle at the moment, but I can’t tell you what projects – confidentiality, you know how it is.” Apparently this is a way cooler line than, “I’m a dedicated, enthusiastic team player who is actively seeking work”. The latter response = LOSER.
4. Invent an Interesting Persona (ie, LIE MASSIVELY). “I work for CSIS and I’m investigating the possibility that ‘social media’ is a hoax being perpetuated on the Canadian populace… can I have your business card?”
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The state of my Email Nation...
...is a Bizarre Love Triangle. Ha! Funny, right? It's a New Order joke! Band from the 80's? Just me? Okay, moving on.
This week I took stock of the state of my inbox.
If you’d asked me a couple of days ago how many emails a day I get, I would have said between 30 and 40. I think it’s a source of pride with people now. Our sense of self-worth can be measured in how many emails we get, how many Facebook friends we have or (ahem) how many people are following our blogs.
But let’s talk quality over quantity for a second.
In some instances it does quantity does matter. I need followers for my blog because I want to grow my community, but does it really matter how many emails I get in my private Hotmail account? Only if you’re desperate, right? Right! Time for some subscription weeding. Opt-outers HO!
Let’s get started:
• I have no disposable income right now, so see you later Old Navy, The Shoe Company, Bouclair and Amazon;
• I’m practically a shut-in (see above) so Hot Docs, Ticketmaster and Fallsview Casino are gone!
• No way am I buying a property or a car anytime soon so BOOYAH to Toyota, Smart Car and Allard Realtors!
• I never have and never will have any interest in the products or services of Zip, Apple, Extreme Fitness or Rogers’ Magazine subscriptions, so buh-bye.
Who I’m going to keep:
• a publisher who ONLY sends a reminder when an author I’m like releases a new book;
• TripAdvisor and Travelzoo: totally useless to me at the moment, but I can’t help it. I like to pretend to myself that I have a shot of taking a vacation on the beach in the near future.
Whew! Results:
On Friday I received only 19 emails. If I ignore my lingering pang of inadequacy, I have to admit it was freeing not to feel guilty over having to delete 20 emails without even opening them first.
Now all I have left are:
A) Actual emails from real people,
B) Messages from all the social network groups I signed up for.
Hm. I really should start pruning those… aww…but I just signed up for most of them. They are so new, so innocent! The poor little things have not had a chance to prove themselves yet! I will wait a month and then reassess who will get the axe.
Wow, it’s like Sophie’s choice, but for social media.
Update on my previous post: Why My Mother Won’t Read My Blog
• My Mom: Still not reading my blog. Still no intention to ever do so.
• My Boyfriend, Doug: Pretends to read my blog over my should as I’m proofing it, but he’s totally skimming. I can tell.
• My Best Friend, Jan: Joined as a follower! Yay Jan!
This week I took stock of the state of my inbox.
If you’d asked me a couple of days ago how many emails a day I get, I would have said between 30 and 40. I think it’s a source of pride with people now. Our sense of self-worth can be measured in how many emails we get, how many Facebook friends we have or (ahem) how many people are following our blogs.
But let’s talk quality over quantity for a second.
In some instances it does quantity does matter. I need followers for my blog because I want to grow my community, but does it really matter how many emails I get in my private Hotmail account? Only if you’re desperate, right? Right! Time for some subscription weeding. Opt-outers HO!
Let’s get started:
• I have no disposable income right now, so see you later Old Navy, The Shoe Company, Bouclair and Amazon;
• I’m practically a shut-in (see above) so Hot Docs, Ticketmaster and Fallsview Casino are gone!
• No way am I buying a property or a car anytime soon so BOOYAH to Toyota, Smart Car and Allard Realtors!
• I never have and never will have any interest in the products or services of Zip, Apple, Extreme Fitness or Rogers’ Magazine subscriptions, so buh-bye.
Who I’m going to keep:
• a publisher who ONLY sends a reminder when an author I’m like releases a new book;
• TripAdvisor and Travelzoo: totally useless to me at the moment, but I can’t help it. I like to pretend to myself that I have a shot of taking a vacation on the beach in the near future.
Whew! Results:
On Friday I received only 19 emails. If I ignore my lingering pang of inadequacy, I have to admit it was freeing not to feel guilty over having to delete 20 emails without even opening them first.
Now all I have left are:
A) Actual emails from real people,
B) Messages from all the social network groups I signed up for.
Hm. I really should start pruning those… aww…but I just signed up for most of them. They are so new, so innocent! The poor little things have not had a chance to prove themselves yet! I will wait a month and then reassess who will get the axe.
Wow, it’s like Sophie’s choice, but for social media.
Update on my previous post: Why My Mother Won’t Read My Blog
• My Mom: Still not reading my blog. Still no intention to ever do so.
• My Boyfriend, Doug: Pretends to read my blog over my should as I’m proofing it, but he’s totally skimming. I can tell.
• My Best Friend, Jan: Joined as a follower! Yay Jan!
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